Percepliquis stumbles a little but still manages to stick the landing to one of the most enjoyable fantasy sagas I've read.
Praise:
-Percepliquis is just an enjoyable read overall. If one has made it this far and enjoyed the preceding novels, they're bound to enjoy this one. It's a winning mix of adventuring, fighting, Indiana-Jones style problem-solving, epic magical lore, and kingdom politics.
-The lore and worldbuilding is quite intricate and well thought-out. Reading Esrahaddon before this novel, while unconventional, elevated my experience immensely. Sullivan clearly has a comprehensive and complex view of the cultures, religions, political dynamics, and civilized history of his world.
-Some very satisfying character conclusions, even for very minor characters.
-Magnus's arc was excellent.
-Myron continues to be a sweetheart and spouts some thought-provoking and genuinely meaningful wisdom that elevates the quality of the book as a whole.
-Nimbus's ending was so perfect and entirely unforeseen on my part. The best reveal of the novel.
Criticism:
-Overall, the plot felt... too familiar? Too low stakes and meandering for the finale to an epic fantasy, which is uncharacteristic of Sullivan. It feels like a drawn-out side quest rather than a heart-pounding race to save the kingdom. It had the odd sense of being simultaneously fun and engaging on a minute level but also terribly boring from a plot standpoint. The climax wasn't as epic, dramatic, or tense as I had hoped... it went fairly as expected. I should note, though, I was aware that (the book's major twist and which major characters survive)

Spoiler

Royce was the true heir and Hadrian and Arista survived

, so this may have impacted my experience.
-While I'm not as uptight about the mixed modern slang with period language (it adds a little fun) as other reviewers, certain uses of clearly modern slang and phrases did stick out.
-There were an unwelcome abundance of plot conveniences and some major twists that didn't land. Additionally, the characters continually miss obvious conclusions/solutions to a frustrating extent. I feel Sullivan both dumbed them down a little and prematurely revealed too much to the reader, which led to this effect.
-Degan Gaunt. Terribly frustrating character, which seemed intentional until

Spoiler

the conclusion of the book, where he received no character growth or justice for his despicable previous actions and was instead... appointed an Earl?!

The author also made a critical error by

Spoiler

revealing to the reader the Gaunt isn't the heir in the first chapter, but leading the characters on to believe this for hundreds of pages. This didn't result in dramatic irony, it just made Gaunt all the more intolerable.

Overall, an enjoyable, if a bit underwhelming and not groundbreaking, end to an awesome series. I can't wait to read the prequel series. 7/10